Can-capping machine



June 21,1927.

H. L. GUENTHER CAN APPING MACHINE Filed July 8 1925 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 11 21 1927. Ju H. GUENTHER CAN CAPPING MACHINE Filed July 8, .1925

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 21 1927.

H. L. GUENTHER- CAN CAPPING MACHINE Filed July 8, 1925 ,5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Imam?! 56. [Li/L61. 1

June 21 1927. ,633,250

H. 1.. GUENTHER CAN CAPPING MACHINEK Filed July 8, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 it y 6, 74

flu/antarjifcwr 65/5 .can chute, separate the cans without violent section showing means Patented June 21, 1927. i

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' HENRY L. GUINTHEB, OF LOS ANGELES, (iALII'OBNIA.

CAN-'OAIPPING :uacnnm.

Application fled July 8, .1925. Serial no. 42,2:7.

ing cans to can seaming-means 1n synchro- .nism with the operation thereof and without disturbing the contents of the cans to such an extent that slop or spill will be producei w It is the principal object of the present invention, therefore, to provide means for taking cans as they flow along the action orjar, and then delivering said cans in timed succession to cap feed means, where each can is given a cap, and where the respective cans and caps are to the seaming mechanism, all of which progressive movement of the cans is effected at a gradually accelerating rate of speed with the incidental action that the cap feed will remain inoperative when no can is present to receive a cap, and that. the entire feed mechanism Wlll be rendered lnoperatlve when there is no cap to be placed on a can.

The present invention contemplates the use of an initial rotary 'spacing' device by which cans are delivered to arotary can timing and accelerating device, transferring the cans to .a second can and can'cap accelerating device their'associated'capslto the first operation mechanism of-a double seaming machine. I

The invention is illustrated b way of example in the accompanying rawings, in which: a i

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing the complete mechanism with which the present invention is concerned.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in vertical for actuating one of the initial can timing and accelerating arms.

Fig. 3 is a view in plan showing the as-- sembled mechanism'as disclosed in Fig; 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in plan showing the construction of the no. cap, no can safety device.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view 111 plan showing parts of the structure with other parts pelled.

fed coincidentally livered'. I

which a can may roll removed, while indicating the construction of the no can, no cap safety device.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view in central vertical section showing the no cap, no can operating mechanism.

Fig.- 7 is a fragmentary view in vertical section showing the trip member of the. no cap, no can safety device.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentaryview in section and elevation showing one of the cap feed fingers associated with a can, accelerating arm.

armsand the mannen in which it is pro- Fig. showing the means by which the accelerator arms are given a variable speed of movement. I

. Referring more particularly tov the drawingslO indicates a sub-frame carrying suitablebearings and supports for the various shafts and parts of the structure, .it being understood that this sub-frame is disposed adjacent a can double seaming machine.

main vertical drive ,shaft 11 is suitably mounted in the sub-frame 10 and supported at its'upper end by a bearing structure 12. This. drive shaft is provided with a gear 13 acting through gears 14:,and 15 to drive Fig. 9 is a fragmentaryyiew in section" and elevation showing one ofthe accelerator 10 is a fragmentary view-in plan 7'0 a stub shaft 16. The stub shaft is in turn connected to a secondary drive shaft 17 byadapted to carry the cans and gears 18 and 19. The secondary drive shaft 17 extends parallel to the shaft 11 and projects upwardly through supporting. bearshaft 17 and projectsthrough a-bearing24.

The shaft 23 carries arotary can feed disk 25 onto which a flow of cans "may. be de- Mounted above the disk and adapted -to rotate with the sameand the shaft is a star wheel 26. This star wheel. is of peculiar configuration in that the teeth and the gullets between the teeth do not exactly fit the can, but represent an ogee' curve of slight curvature, the curve forming a surface along as it rests upon the disk 25, and as it is being advanced. Due to this action the can is permitted to gradually adjust its initial speed to the speed of the star wheel 26 so that it-may be gradually accelerated without jar or agitation.

The can is caused to roll as it successively engages arcuate retarding fingers 27 and 28. The finger 27 extends substantially onethird of the arc of the circumference of the disk'25, while the-finger 28 is of less length. Both of the fingers are mounted upon a common vertical pivot 29 and may swing horizontally as forced by the can The fingers are yieldably held in the path of travel of the can by compression springs 30 and 31. The spring 30 acts against the finger 27 and is of considerably greater strength than the s ring 31 which acts against the finger 28. y reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the portion of the finger 27 overlying the finger 28 is formed with a relieved face so that after the can contacts with the finger 27 and comes to a point of encountering finger 28 the can will be held by the lesser pressure of the spring 31. Thus the retard; ing action of the can from the point of its encounter with the surface of the finger 27 to the point where it passes the pivot 29 of the two fingers will be gradually decreased,

permitting the friction of the disk 25 to gradually accelerate the speed of travel of the can and to cause the point 32 of a tooth of the star wheel 26 to overtake the can and carry it through the throat 33 into engagement with the initial can accelerating means indicated generally at 34. I

The initial can accelerating means comprises a rotary disk 35 fixed to the shaft 17 and a plurality of can timing and accelerating fingers 36 mounted above the disk and carried by the shaft. The disk 35 is dis posed directly beneath the disk 25 and thus the can in its transition from one disk to the other has an imperceptible fall represented by thickness of the disk 25. The timing fin gets 36 are formed as horizontally projectmg parts of vertically extending levers 37. These levers are pivoted near their upper ends'upon pins 38 and are disposed in slots between combined bearings and guide members 39. The upper ends of the levers are' fitted with rollers 40, as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. These rollers project into an eccentric groove 41 of, a: cam 42; By reference to Fig. 3it will be seen that the groove 'is indicated in dotted lines; and is eccentric to the shaft17. It will also be evident \that the eccentricity is such as tocause the fingers 36 to assume their inner- 'most positions at the time they pass the point of delivery of the cans from the disk 25, and that theyswing outwardly to an extre position as the ca'ns pass from the disk 3 and to other mechanism which will be hereinafter described. r

Due to this swinging gction the fingers move radially and follow up the cans as they propel them along an eccentric course of travel off of the disk 35, as defined by an outer curved guide rail 43, and an inner curved guide rail 44. The outer curved guide rail overhangs the disk 25 and the star wheel 26 and is formed at its end with a curved face or point 45 which is encountered'by the can as it is projected forwardly by the combined action of the disk 25 and the star wheel 26, and gradually moves the can out of engagement with the advancing tooth of the star wheel and into a position to be engaged by one of the accelerating feed fingers 36. L l

During the course oftravel of the cans while resting on the disk 35 they encounter a yieldable. trip lever 46 which forms a 1part of a no can, no cap feed mechanism. T is mechanism will be described in detail hereinafter, and at the present time atten tion is merely directed to the fact that this member is mounted to swing horizontally on a shaft 47, and that it is of sufiicient length to be .in simultaneous engagement with at least ,two cans during their travel with the disk 35.

The cans, upon leaving the disk 35, are fed into pockets 48 of can and cap accelerating members 49. These members are separately mounted upon the main drive shaft 11 and each constitute a horizontally swinging farm formed with the can receiving pocket 48' and a vertically swinging arm. 50 carrying an upwardly projecting finger 51 adapted to engage and feed a can cap coincidentally with the can being seated in the pocket 48 of the same arm. The cap feeding finger 51 is more clearly shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, where it will be seen to be in the shape of a bell crank mounted upon a shaft 52 and having an upwardly projecting arm carrying a roller53. This roller is intended to'extend into an eccentric cam groove 54 formed as a part of the fixed bearing structure 55 through which the shaft v11 extends. By reference to the dotted lines indicating the cam 54in Fig.

gradually lower in position until it reaches the station indicated at A, where it is in-.

tended that the can and cap associated therewith will be delivered coincidentally to the chucks of a double seaming spindle. As previously stated, the arms 49 move independently of each other and are sepa-v rately accelerated in a manner similar to that indicated in my copending application entitled Differential speed control can feed'- mechanism, Patent' No. 1,581,201, issued April 20, 1926, in which patent the arms are fitted with radially extending slide ways 56, as more particularly shown in Figs. 9 and 10 of the drawings. These ways carry blocks 57 mounted upon pins 58, which pins in turn are carried on the links of a chain 59. The chain 59, as shown in Fig. 10, moves along an eccentric path of travel around the shaft 11 and an eccentric shoe 60, thus causing the pins 58 to assume positions at different distances from the axis of the shaft 11 and will thus cause the blocks 57 to move in and out along the ways 56 of the arms 49, so that a variable speed will be imparted to each arm individually during its cycle of travel. The structure is so designed that the speed of travel of each arm at the point where it receives a can from the can timing and accelerating mechanism 34 will be equal to the speed of the can received and that the can will then continue in its progressive accelerated speed of travel.

The cap feed. mechanism is of the reciprocating type, in which a pair of grooved members cuts the lowermost can from the stack on the retracting stroke and projects the released can forwardly by movement of the pusher finger 62, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The caps are fed' onto a supporting table 63 and as they project forwardly move into the path of travel of the can. fingers 51 and fixed lugs 51' mounted on the accelerator arms 49. These members pass in through an arcuate slot 64in the floor 63 and carry the cap forwardly above a can which is thereafter delivered to the pocket of the arm 49 from the disk 35.

The foregoing sets forth the details of construction of the means for feeding, timing and accelerating the speeds of travel of cans and caps. In addition to these structures two safety devices are provided, one being a so-called no can, no cap feed and the other being a no .cap, no can feed. The no can, no cap feed has one particular advantage in the present instance, in that it is actuated simultaneously by two cans, where heretofore these structures have always been independently actuated by each can, the result being that the interval of actuation was so short, and the encounter of the trip mechanism by the can so violent, that the contents of the can was agitated and spilled. The present no can, no cap arrangement is intended to conform to the general idea of the present invention in that it eliminates any tendency for the trip mechanism to jar the can. This structure is particularly shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5 of the drawings, in which it will be seen that the trip lever 46 is mounted on a shaft 47 and actuates a lever 65 disposed beneath the table. This lever is connected with a pitman rod 66 extending horizontally beneath the table and normally held in a retracted position by a spring 67. The forward end .I claim and desire to secure disclosed. in my United States Letters Patent entitled Safety device for can machines, No. 1,545,140. In the present instance, however, a more positive actuating means for the safety device is provided, in that i is fitted with a trip lever 71' which is supported upon pivots 7 2 for vertical swinging movement. This lever extends downwardly into the path of travel of the can ca s as they are being fed forwardly by the ngers 51 of the can accelerating arms 49. The lever 71 is positioned substantially in the middle of the path of travel of these caps so that the lever will wipe over the top and the center of the caps and will thus be positively actuated for a prolonged period of time. This structure is more particularly shown in Figs. 3 and 6 and 7 of the drawings, where it will be seen that the upper end of the lever 71' is provided with a connecting rod 73 extending horizontally to a swinging lever 74 mounted on a vertical shaft 75 at one side of'the machine. The rod 75 extends downwardly to a point beneath the machine, where it connects with a trip mechanism and from thence is connected by a pitman rod 77 with a catch pawl 78. This pawl may then be moved down to engage a notch in a ratchet 79 carried on the main drive shaft 11. The pawl 78 is mounted on a lever 80 so that when it engages the ratchet 7 9 the 'clutch lever 81 will be actuated to pull on a clutch operating bar 82 and to thus pull the clutch out and render the feed mechanism inoperative.

Having thus described my invention, what by Letters Patent is:

' 1. A device for feeding cans and caps to arotary turret high-speed double seaming machine, comprising a cap feed device means for timing cans with relation to each other and carrying them through the feeding device and to the double seaming machine at a gradually accelerated rate of speed while passing the cap feed device, and automatically operated means in the path of travel 'of' the cans separately and successively operated by the traveling cans causing actuation of the cap feed device when engaged by a can. I t

I 2. A device of the character described, can timing and spacing means comprising a rotary disk onto which cans are delivered while standing in a vertical position there-'7 on, means above the disk and moving therewith with which the cans come into engagement and by which they are carried forwardly, and means arranged around the disk and along the path of travel of the cans for successively retarding the travel of the individual cans until they have been engaged by the positive advancing means.

. 3. In a device of the character described, a horizontal continuouslyrotating disk onto which cans are successively fed and by which they are carried forwardly while in frictional engagement therewith, positive advancing means for engaging the separate cans and carrying them forwardly while resting on the disk, and means for gradually and successively retarding the cans until they have become engaged by the positive advancing means.

4. In a device of the character described, a horizontally disposed continuously rotating disk onto which cans are delivered from a run of cans in an upright position, and by which said cans are carried forwardly with the disk while in frictional engagement therewith, positive can feed means disposed above the disk and rotating therewith, and with which the can becomes engaged at certain points on the disk, and means defining the path of travel of the cans on the disk, saidmeans including means for gradually retarding the speed of travel of a can in engagement therewith until it has become engaged by one of said positive feed means.

5. In a device of the character described, a horizontally disposed continuously rotating disk onto which cans are delivered from a run of cans in an upright position, and by which said cans are carried forwardly with the disk while in frictional engagement therewith, positive can feed means disposed above the disk and rotating therewith, and with which the can becomes engaged at certain points on the disk, means defining the path of travel of the cans on the disk, said means including means for gradually retarding the speed of travel of a can in engagement therewith untilnit has become engaged by one of said positive feed means, and means for carrying the successive cans from said disk and conveying them forwardly to a continuous rotary turret double seaming machine at gradually accelerating rates of speed.

- 6. A device of the character described comprising can spacingand timing means, means for separately engaging the consecutive cans and carrying them forwardl from the timing means at gradually accelerated rates of speed, means for receiving a can cap and carrying it forwardl at a gradually, accelerated rate of speed to a continuously rotating turret double seaming'machine, and means whereby the cans advancing from the can timing means at gradually esaaeo accelerated rates of speed willbe successively delivered to the means advancing the caps at an increased accelerated rate of speed whereby a can and cap will advance together to the double seaming turret.

7. A device of the character described comprising can spacing and timing means, means for separately engaging the consecutive cans and carrying them forwardly from the timing means at gradually accelerated rates of speed, means for receiving a can cap and carrying it forwardly at a gradually accelerated rate of speed to a continuously rotating turret double seaming machine, means whereby the cans advancing from the can timing means at gradually accelerated rates of speed will be successively delivered to the means advancing the caps at an increased accelerated rate of speed whereby a can and cap will advance together to the double seaming turret, and means automatically actuated by the delivery of a can to said can and cap feeding means whereby a cap will be fed to the can.

8. A device for timing and feeding cans and carrying them to a high speed rotary double seaming machine from a relatively slow flow of cans, comprising means for initially spacing successive cans equidistant to each other as they continue to travel, a series of members individually operating to engage successive cans and to carry them forwardly toward the double seaming machine at a gradually accelerated rate of speed, a series of individual can and cap receiving members for receiving the cans travelling at the accelerated rate of speed, and further gradually accelerating the speed of travel of the cans while delivering them to the double seaming turret.

9. A device for timing and feeding cans and carrying them to a high speed rotary double seaming machine from a relatively slow flow of cans, comprising means for initially spacing successive cans equidistant to eachother as they continue to travel, a series of members individually operating to engage successive cans and to carry them forwardly toward the double seaming machine at a gradually accelerated rate of speed, a

series of individual can, and cap receiving at the accelerated rate of speed, and furthergradually accelerating. the speed of travel of the cans while delivering them to the double seaming turret, means for delivering caps to the respective can receivin and acce crating means to be carried orwardly therewith, and automatic means influenced by each can at a point in its travel for setting the cap feed mechanism in motion for the delivery of one cap to a can receiving member.

11. A device for timing and feeding cans and carrying them to a high-speed rotary double-seaming machine from a relatively slow flow of cans, comprising means for initially spacing successive cans equidistant to each other as they continue totravel, a series of members individually operating to engage successive cans and to carry them forwardly toward the double-seaming machine at a gradually accelerated rate of speed, a series of individual can and cap receiving members for receiving the cans traveling at the accelerated rate of speed, and further gradually accelerating the speed of travel of the cans While delivering them to the double-seaming turret, means for delivering caps to the respective can receiving and accelerating means to be carried forwardly therewith, and means in the path of travel of the cans whereby the presence of a can at a point in its travel will cause the entire feed means to remain operative. but the absence of a can at said point will render the structure inoperative.

HENRY L. GUENTHER. 

